Systems and methods for communicating with remote users

ABSTRACT

A messaging system comprises memory for storing contact information and location information for a plurality of users, referred to hereafter as “participants,” who may be dispersed across a wide geographic area. When a user desires to solicit images from a particular geographic region of interest, the user provides inputs indicative of such region, and messaging logic then automatically determines which participants are within the region of interest based on the stored location information. Using the contact information, the messaging logic then initiates communication with the identified participants in order to solicit images of the region of interest. In response, willing participants may capture and return images as may be desired. Thus, the system facilitates the process of finding people at or close to an event of interest, communicating with such people to solicit images of the event or the effects of the event, and then collecting such images.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/847,877, entitled “Systems and Methods forCommunicating with Remote Users” and filed on Sep. 8, 2015, which isincorporated herein by reference. U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/847,877 claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/047,409, entitled “Systems and Methods for Communicating with RemoteUsers” and filed on Sep. 8, 2014, which is incorporated herein byreference.

RELATED ART

When reporting on or forecasting weather or geological events, such asstorms, hurricanes, mudslides, floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes, aweatherman at a television weather station will often reference imagesshowing the effects of such events. As an example, images of an areainundated by flood waters or damage caused by a storm may be displayedwithin a broadcast from the television weather station. Often theseimages are captured at the scene of an event by people who email orotherwise send images to the television weather station, sometimes atthe request of the weatherman.

With the proliferation of cellular telephones and other mobile devices,more and more users are equipped with devices capable of capturing andsending images of scenes or storm report information that may be ofinterest to a television weather station. Thus, when a weather orgeological event occurs, a television weather station often receives arelatively large number of storm reports and images showing the effectsof the event. Further, the effects of many weather and geological eventsspan across a wide geographic area, and for any given event a televisionweather station may receive images and reports from many differentgeographic regions.

In many cases, a user at a television weather station desires to find animage showing the effects of a weather or geological event occurring ina specific area, such as an area hit by a tornado or other specificevent. Unfortunately, the process of reviewing all of the imagesreceived by a weather television station to find an image of particularinterest can be burdensome and time consuming. In addition, in somecases, the television weather station may not receive any images of theparticular event or area of interest in which case a user may waste timeand effort searching for an image that is unavailable.

In order to find an image or information of a specific event or area ofinterest, a user at a television weather station may initiatecommunication with certain individuals, such as amateur weatherenthusiasts who have a relationship with the television weather station,and request that they attempt to capture and send storm relatedinformation or images of interest. However, it can be difficult and timeconsuming to find an individual who is at or close to the area or eventof interest and who is willing and available to capture information andimages at the time of occurrence of the event.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure can be better understood with reference to the followingdrawings. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily to scalerelative to each other, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the disclosure. Furthermore, likereference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the severalviews.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of amessaging system for solicitation of images.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of aserver, such as is depicted by FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a usercomputing device, such as is depicted by FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of aclient, such as is depicted by FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary map that may be displayed by a messagingsystem, such as is depicted by FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 depicts the map of FIG. 5 after a user has selected a region ofinterest on the map.

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary graphical user interface (GUI) that may berendered by a user computing device, such as is depicted by FIG. 1, forenabling a user to capture an image.

FIG. 8 depicts GUI that may be rendered by a user computing device, suchas is depicted by FIG. 1, after a user has captured an image.

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary map that may be displayed by a messagingsystem, such as is depicted by FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for performing asolicitation event.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure generally pertains to messaging systems andmethods for soliciting images from or otherwise communicating withremote users based on their geographic locations. In one exemplaryembodiment, a messaging system comprises memory for storing contactinformation and location information for a plurality of users, referredto hereafter as “participants,” who may be dispersed across a widegeographic area. The location information of a participant indicates hisor her current geographic location and may be obtained through the useof global positioning system (GPS) technology or other type oftechnology for determining the location of objects. When a user desiresto solicit images or information from a particular geographic region ofinterest, the user provides inputs indicative of such region, andmessaging logic then automatically determines which participants arewithin the region of interest based on the stored location information.Using the contact information, the messaging logic then initiatescommunication with the identified participants in order to solicitimages or information of the region of interest. In response, willingparticipants may capture and return images or otherwise send informationas may be desired. Thus, the system facilitates the process of findingpeople at or close to an event of interest, communicating with suchpeople to solicit images of the event or the effects of the event, andthen collecting such images and information.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a system 10 for solicitingimages from remote users. The system 10 comprises a server 12 that iscommunicatively coupled to a network 15 for communicating with a client17 that may be at a remote location relative to the server 12. In oneexemplary embodiment, the client 17 is implemented and used by users ata television weather station, but the client 17 may be implemented atother locations and used by other types of users in other embodiments.

The network 15 may comprise a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), or any other type of communication network. In oneexemplary embodiment, the network 15 comprises the Internet, andmessages are communicated across the network 15 using transmissioncontrol protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), but other types of networksand other types of protocols are possible in other embodiments.

As shown by FIG. 1, the system 10 also comprises a plurality of usercomputing devices 25 that are used by users, referred to herein as“participants.” Each user computing device 25 can be any device capableof interacting with a participant and communicating with the server 12or other devices using the network 15 or otherwise. As an example, auser computing device 25 may be implemented as a desktop or laptopcomputer. A user computing device 25 may also be implemented as a mobilecommunication device, such as a cellular telephone.

In general, the client 17 is configured to receive a user inputindicating a geographic region of interest to a user. Informationindicative of such geographic region is communicated to the server 12,which then determines which of the user computing devices 25 are withinthe identified region. The server 12 then communicates with such usercomputing devices 25 to solicit at least one image from the identifiedregion. In response, the participants of these computing devices 25 maythen capture and send one or more images from the identified region.Exemplary techniques for soliciting and processing images of interestwill be described in more detail below.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary embodiment of the server 12. As shown byFIG. 2, the server 12 comprises logic 30, referred to hereafter forsimplicity of illustration as “messaging logic,” for generallycontrolling the operation of the server 12 and solicitation events, aswill be described in more detail hereafter. The messaging logic 30 canbe implemented in software, hardware, firmware or any combinationthereof. In the exemplary server 12 illustrated by FIG. 2, the messaginglogic 30 is implemented in software and stored in memory 34 of theserver 12.

Note that the messaging logic 30, when implemented in software, can bestored and transported on any computer-readable medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution apparatus that can fetch andexecute instructions. In the context of this document, a“computer-readable medium” can be any means that can contain or store acomputer program for use by or in connection with an instructionexecution apparatus.

The exemplary server 12 depicted by FIG. 2 comprises at least oneconventional processing element 36, such as a digital signal processor(DSP) or a central processing unit (CPU), that is configured to executeinstructions from software or firmware stored in memory 34. Theprocessing element 36 communicates to and drives the other elementswithin the server 12 via a local interface 38, which can include atleast one bus. Furthermore, an input interface 41, for example, akeyboard, keypad, or a mouse, can be used to input data from a user ofthe server 12, and an output interface 43, for example, a printer,monitor, liquid crystal display (LCD), or other display apparatus, canbe used to output data to the user. In some cases, the same device, suchas a touchscreen, for example, may be configured to input and outputdata and, thus, used to implement both the input interface 41 and theoutput interface 43.

Further, the server 12 also comprises a communication interface 46, suchas at least one modem, that may be used to communicate data with thenetwork 15 (FIG. 1). Note that the communication interface 46 may becoupled to the network 15 via a physical medium, such as a conductive oroptical connection. Alternatively, the communication interface 46 may beconfigured to communicate with the network 15 wirelessly.

As shown by FIG. 2, the server 12 is configured to store contact data52, which identifies each participant registered with the server 12. Foreach such participant, the contact data 52 includes an identifier,referred to hereafter as “participant identifier,” and contactinformation for enabling the server 12 to communicate with the usercomputing device 25 (FIG. 1) for that participant. As an example, if theuser computing device 25 is a cellular telephone, the contactinformation may include a telephone number that may be used to place acall with or send a message (e.g., an email message, a text message, ora push notification) to the telephone. In one exemplary embodiment, thecontact information is a unique phone identifier that can be used tosend push notifications to the user computing device 25.

The server 12 also stores location data 53, which indicates the currentlocation of each registered participant. In one exemplary embodiment,the location information is obtained through GPS technology, and thelocation data 53 indicates the geographic coordinates of eachparticipant. However, in other embodiments, other types of locationinformation may be indicated by the location data 53.

As shown by FIG. 2, the server 12 also stores sets (e.g., files) ofimage data 54 that are collected from the user computing devices 25, aswill be described in more detail hereafter. Each set of image data 54defines at least one image of a scene captured by a camera.

In addition, the server 12 stores weather data 55 indicative of past,current, or future weather conditions across a wide geographic region,including areas in which one or more of the user computing devices 25are located. As an example, the weather data 55 may include radar orsatellite data, as well as other types of data typically used by weatherforecasters to assess weather conditions and provide weather forecasts.The weather data 55 may be obtained directly from weather radar systemsor satellites and also from various agencies, such as the NationalWeather Service, that collect weather-related data from various sources.As an example, at least a portion of the weather data 55 may becommunicated to the server 12 via the network 15.

The weather data 55 may also include notifications from the NationalWeather Service or other sources identifying a particular geographicregion for a weather or geological event. As an example, the weatherdata 55 may indicate a watch or warning, such as a thunderstorm,tornado, hurricane, or tsunami warning, issued by the National WeatherService or other source. Such notification may include data identifyingthe geographic region to which the watch or warning pertains.

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a user computing device 25. Asshown by FIG. 3, the user computing device 25 comprises a conventionaloperating system (OS) 70 that generally manages the resources of thedevice 25. In the exemplary embodiment depicted by FIG. 3, the OS 70 isimplemented in software or firmware and stored in memory 72. In otherembodiments, portions of the OS 70 may be implemented in hardware, ifdesired. Also stored in memory 72 is a weather application 77 that isconfigured to communicate with the server 12 for rendering the weatherdata 55 to the user of the device 25, as well as performing otherfunctions as will be described in more detail hereafter. In theembodiment shown by FIG. 3, the weather application 77 is implemented insoftware, but at least portions of the application 77 can be implementedin hardware or firmware. When implemented in software, the weatherapplication 77 can be stored and transported on any computer-readablemedium for use by or in connection with an instruction executionapparatus that can fetch and execute instructions.

The exemplary device 25 depicted by FIG. 3 comprises at least oneconventional processing element 86, such as a digital signal processor(DSP) or a central processing unit (CPU), that is configured to executeinstructions from software or firmware stored in memory 72. Theprocessing element 86 communicates to and drives the other elementswithin the device 25 via a local interface 88, which can include atleast one bus. Furthermore, an input interface 91, for example, akeyboard, keypad, or a mouse, can be used to input data from a user ofthe device 25, and an output interface 93, for example, a printer,monitor, liquid crystal display (LCD), or other display apparatus, canbe used to output data to the user. In some cases, the same device, suchas a touchscreen, for example, may be configured to input and outputdata and, thus, used to implement both the input interface 91 and theoutput interface 93.

Further, the device 25 also comprises a communication interface 96, suchas at least one modem, that may be used to communicate data with thenetwork 15 (FIG. 1). Note that the communication interface 96 may becoupled to the network 15 via a physical medium, such as a conductive oroptical connection. Alternatively, the communication interface 96 may beconfigured to communicate with the network 15 wirelessly. As an example,in one exemplary embodiment, the communication interface 96 comprises acellular transceiver, and the network 15 comprises a cellular networkthat interfaces the device 25 with the Internet for communication withthe server 12. In other embodiments, other types of devices, networks,and techniques may be used for the communication between the server 12and the user computing device 25.

In one exemplary embodiment, the device 25 comprises a camera 97 that isconfigured to capture digital images (e.g., pictures or video) of ascene. The camera 97 operates under the control of a camera driver 98.In the exemplary embodiment shown by FIG. 3, the camera driver 98 isimplemented in software or firmware stored in memory 72, but at leastportions of the camera driver 98 may be implemented in hardware, ifdesired.

The user computing device 25 also comprises a location sensor 99 that isconfigured to determine a location of the device 25. In one exemplaryembodiment, the location sensor 99 comprises a GPS receiver that isconfigured to receive wireless signals from satellites and to usetriangulation or other types of techniques to determine the location ofthe device 25 based on the wireless signals. In other embodiments, othertypes of location sensors are possible.

From time-to-time, the weather application 77 is configured to transmitdata indicative of the current location of the device 25, as indicatedby the location sensor 99, to the server 12. As an example, thislocation data may be transmitted periodically or after the weatherapplication 77 has determined that the device 25 has moved more than athreshold distance from its last location reported to the server 12.When the server 12 receives such a location update from a user computingdevice 25, the messaging logic 30 is configured to update the locationdata 53 so that the participant's current location is indicated by thedata 53.

Note that it is unnecessary for a user computing device 25 to have alocation sensor 99. Some devices (e.g., a desktop computer) moveinfrequently, and it is unnecessary to track the location of suchdevices in real time. The location of a stationary device 25 can beprovisioned into the location data 53 without updating such locationover time.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary embodiment of the client 17. As shown byFIG. 4, the client 17 comprises a weather (WX) data manager 100 that isconfigured to download weather data 55 from the server 12 and to renderthe weather data 55, as will be described in more detail hereafter. Inother embodiments, other types of data managers may be used. In theexemplary embodiment shown by FIG. 4, the WX data manager 100 isimplemented in software and stored in memory 105. In other embodiments,the WX data manager 100 may be implemented in software, firmware,hardware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, theWX data manager 100 can be stored and transported on anycomputer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instructionexecution apparatus that can fetch and execute instructions.

The exemplary client 17 depicted by FIG. 4 comprises at least oneconventional processing element 116, such as a digital signal processor(DSP) or a central processing unit (CPU), that is configured to executeinstructions from software or firmware stored in memory 105. Theprocessing element 116 communicates to and drives the other elementswithin the client 17 via a local interface 118, which can include atleast one bus. Furthermore, an input interface 121, for example, akeyboard, keypad, or a mouse, can be used to input data from a user ofthe client 17, and an output interface 123, for example, a printer,monitor, liquid crystal display (LCD), or other display apparatus, canbe used to output data to the user. In some cases, the same device, suchas a touchscreen, for example, may be configured to input and outputdata and, thus, used to implement both the input interface 121 and theoutput interface 123.

Further, the client 17 also comprises a communication interface 126,such as at least one modem, that may be used to communicate data withthe network 15 (FIG. 1). Note that the communication interface 126 maybe coupled to the network 15 via a physical medium, such as a conductiveor optical connection. Alternatively, the communication interface 126may be configured to communicate with the network 15 wirelessly.

As shown by FIG. 4, map data 133 is stored in memory 105 and used by theWX data manager 100 to define maps for use in forecasting or reportingweather based on the weather data 55. In this regard, the WX datamanager 100 receives inputs from a user via the input interface 121indicating a desired map format and region of interest. The WX datamanager 100 then generates a display of a map of the identified regionusing the map data 133 and overlays portions of the weather data 55 ontothe map depending on the indicated format. As an example, the WX datamanager 100 may be used by a user at a television weather station todefine a desired map (e.g., weather radar map, flood inundation map,etc.) for use by a weatherman in forecasting or reporting weatherconditions during a television broadcast.

In such example, the operators of the television weather station maysolicit users to become participants in services offered by the stationso that the participants can easily interact with a website of thestation and receive weather-related news and alerts from the station.Such participants download the weather application 77 to their usercomputing devices 25 in order to facilitate interactions between theparticipants and the television weather station. As an example, wheninvoked by a participant, the weather application 77 may be configuredto navigate to a website of the television weather station. Further, theWX data manager 100 may be used by a user of the client 17 in order todefine or manage the content of the website, including the display ofweather data 55 on the website. That is, the WX data manager 100 isconfigured to define the format and layout of a graphical user interface(GUI) through which weather data 55 and other information is rendered.

In addition, the server 12 may be configured to facilitate management ofthe services offered through the WX data manager 100. As an example,through the website of the television station or otherwise, participantsmay subscribe to a service whereby the participants receiveweather-related alerts, such as watches and warnings issued by theNational Weather Service. The WX data manager 100 may interact with theserver 12 in order to store at the server 12 in the contact data 52 alist of participants subscribing to this service, and the currentlocation of such participants may be indicated by the location data 53.

When an alert is desired (e.g., when a weather-related warning isissued), the messaging logic 30 is configured to consult the locationdata 53 to determine which participants are currently within the regionto which the alert pertains. In this regard, as described above, thealert typically includes location information indicative of thegeographic region associated with the notice, and the messaging logic 30compares this location information with the location data 53 in order toidentify which participants are within such geographic region and, thus,should receive an alert. The messaging logic 30 then consults thecontact data 52 to determine the contact information (e.g., telephonenumbers or email addresses) to be used for sending the alert to theidentified participants. Thus, based on the contact data 52 and thelocation data 53, the messaging logic 30 is configured to send a messageindicative of the alert to each participant within the region that isassociated with the alert. As an example, if a tornado warning is issuedby the National Weather Service, a message indicative of the tornadowarning may be sent to each participant within the area to which thewarning pertains.

Note that the messages communicated between the server 12 and the usercomputing devices 25 include various overhead that facilitatesmanagement of the services offered through the server 12. As an example,a message transmitted from a user computing device 25 preferablyincludes a participant identifier, location data, a client identifier,and a timestamp. The participant identifier identifies the participantwho is associated with the device 25 relative to the other participantsregistered with the server 12. The location data indicates the currentlocation of the device 25 as determined by the device's location sensor99. Based on the participant identifier and location data in themessage, the messaging logic 30 may update the location data 53 at theserver 12 to indicate the participant's current location. The clientidentifier uniquely identifies the client 17 relative to other clients(not shown) that may be serviced by the server 12. In this regard, theserver 12 may maintain a separate set of contact data 52 and locationdata 53 for each client that is serviced by the server 12. Using theclient identifier in a received message, the messaging logic 30 candetermine which client 17 is associated with the message and, hence,which set of contact data 52 and location data 53 is applicable to themessage.

Note that the client identifier may be used to restrict access to thedata 52 and 53. In this regard, each set of contact data 52 and locationdata 53 that is maintained for the client 17 is associated with theclient identifier of that client, and messages transmitted to the server12 from the client 17 have overhead that includes such clientidentifier. Once a user of the client 17 provides appropriatecredentials (e.g., username and/or password), the client 17 is permittedto access and, if desired, modify the contact data 52 and the locationdata 53 that are associated with the client identifier.

In one exemplary embodiment, the infrastructure that exists to providethe services described above, such as the alert notifications that arepushed to the user computing devices 25 based on location, is leveragedto facilitate solicitation of images from regions of interest, as willbe described in more detail below.

In this regard, assume that a user of the client 17 would like tosolicit participants to submit images of a particular geographic region,such as a region where a particular weather or geological event isoccurring, is about to occur, or has recently occurred. As an example,the user may desire to receive at least one image of an area that hasrecently been damaged by a storm, such as a tornado, or the user maydesire to receive at least one image of an area that is currentlyflooded. In such cases, the user provides an input via input interface121 requesting the system 10 to perform an event, referred to hereafteras the “solicitation event,” whereby the system 10 solicits participantsto take and return pictures or video of the region of interest. As partof such input, the user preferably indicates the boundaries of theregion of interest.

Note that there are various techniques that can be used to submit suchinput. As an example, the WX data manager 100 may be configured todisplay a text box through which the user enters data by typing. In oneexemplary embodiment, the WX data manager 100 displays via the outputinterface 123 a map defined by the map data 133, and the user selectsthe geographic region of interest from the map.

As an example, FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary map 200 that may be displayedby the client 17. Such map 200 represents a given geographic region, andthe user may provide inputs for controlling the region that isrepresented by the map 200. As an example, the user may provide inputsfor zooming or panning the map 200 in order to change the geographicregion represented by the map 200 as is known in the art.

As shown by FIG. 5, weather data 55 may be rendered on the map 200. Inthis regard, the exemplary map 200 of FIG. 5 is a radar map showinglocations of precipitation that are marked by color-coded objects211-214, referred to hereafter as “weather objects,” overlaying theregions of precipitation. The color of a weather object 211-214 isindicative of an amount of precipitation detected for the region overwhich the object appears, as is known in the art for conventional radarmaps. In other examples, other types of maps may be used, and it isunnecessary for the map 200 to be rendered with weather data 55.Further, in other types of maps, the weather objects displayed on themap may represent different types of weather events.

Also displayed on the map 200 is a plurality of graphical objects221-229, referred to herein as “participant icons,” indicating thelocations of participants on the map 200. In this regard, eachparticipant icon 221-229 represents the current location of a respectiveparticipant who has registered with the sever 12 for the client 17 thatis displaying the map 200.

In particular, in rendering the map 200, the WX data manager 100 isconfigured to retrieve from the server 12 the location data 53 that, asdescribed above, indicates the current geographic location for eachparticipant. For each such participant, the WX data manager 100 displaysa participant icon at the location on the map 200 corresponding to theparticipant's actual location, as indicated by the location data 53.Thus, by viewing the map 200, a user can determine the respectivelocations of participants that are in the region represented by the map200. In addition, by comparing the locations of participant icons221-229 to the locations of the weather objects 211-214 on the map 200,the user can determine the approximate location of each participantrelative to the weather events represented by the objects 211-214.

In one exemplary embodiment, the user of the client 17 selects a regionof interest using the input interface 121. As an example, FIG. 6 showsthe map 200 after a region on the map 200 has been selected by the user.In FIG. 6, such region is represented by a graphical object 236 (e.g., ashaded icon) that is displayed over the selected region in order tographically indicate the user's selection. Note that there are varioustechniques that can be used to select the foregoing region.

As an example, the input interface 121 may comprise a mouse, and theuser may click the mouse while a cursor controlled by the mouse is at acorner of the region of interest. While holding down the click button onthe mouse, the user may move the mouse in order to drag the cursor to anopposite corner (on a diagonal) of the region and then release the clickbutton. Such an operation is commonly referred to as “clicking anddragging” the mouse. Alternatively, the user may use a mouse to clickthe points along the perimeter of the region to be selected. As anexample, the user may click the mouse when the cursor is at each cornerof the boundary such that on the fourth corner click a quadrilateral boxis defined. In other examples, other shapes defined by other numbers ofclicks are possible. In another example, using the mouse a user may drawthe boundary of the selected region by moving the cursor along the pathof the boundary. In such example, the user may first select a drawoperation to indicate a desire to define the boundary so that cursormovements are interpreted as a boundary path for the selected region.When a touchscreen is employed, a user may touch one corner of theregion with his finger or an object (e.g., stylus), and drag his fingeror object across the screen to the opposite corner (on a diagonal) andthen lift his finger or object off the screen. In yet another exemplaryembodiment using a touchscreen, a user may move his finger or an objectalong the boundary in order to draw the boundary similar to theembodiment described above in which a mouse is used to draw a boundary.In other embodiments, various other techniques for selecting the regionof interest are possible.

In FIG. 6, there is a single participant icon 223 within the boundary ofthe object 236 indicating that a single participant is physically in thegeographic region of interest. In other examples, any number ofparticipant icons 221-229 may be in the selected region depending on theregion selected by the user and the physical locations of theparticipants.

Note that there may be a variety of reasons that a user would beinterested in the region indicated by object 236. As an example, theobject 236 may represent a region at which a certain event, such asflooding or storm damage, has occurred, and the user may desire toreceive images from such region. Alternatively, the region may be withinthe path of an approaching storm represented by the object 211, and theuser may desire to receive images at the location of the participantassociated with icon 223 as the storm is occurring at or near suchlocation. In other examples, yet other reasons for selecting the regionrepresented by object 236 are possible.

In initiating a solicitation event, the user of the client 17 mayprovide inputs indicating that a textual message is to be communicatedto participants for the solicitation event. As an example, the textualmessage may define a request for which the participant is requested tocapture an image of the scenery at his or her location. For example, ifthe weather event of interest is a tornado, the message may specificallyrequest that the participant capture an image of damage caused by thetornado. After defining the message, the user of the client 17 maysubmit an input indicating that the solicitation event is to beperformed by the system 10.

There are various techniques and interfaces that may be used to permit auser to define a textual message to be sent to participants during asolicitation event or otherwise. FIGS. 5 and 6 depict various graphicalobjects for assisting the user to define and send a message. In thisregard, a graphical object 230, implemented as a text box in FIGS. 5 and6, is displayed along with the map 200. To enter the text for themessage, the user selects the object 230 and types or otherwise inputscharacters defining the message. As an example, FIG. 6 shows the object230 after the message “Test—Rainshower approaching” has been entered bya user. As shown by FIG. 6, the characters input by the user appear in afield 231 of the object 230.

Next to the object 230 is another graphical object 232, also implementedas a text box in FIGS. 5 and 6, for permitting the user to input apassword that can be used to authenticate the user. Similar techniquesmay be used to input data into the object 232.

Next to the object 232 is yet another graphical object 233 implementedas a selectable button in FIGS. 5 and 6. Once the user has selected theregion of interest, as indicated by object 236 in FIG. 6, and thendefined a message using the object 230, the user may select the object233 in order to initiate a solicitation event. Note that types ofobjects 230-233 other than those described above may be used to inputdata in other embodiments.

In response to selection of the object 233, the WX data manager 100transmits a command, referred to hereafter as “solicitation command,”for instructing the server 12 to perform the solicitation event. In oneexemplary embodiment, the command includes data indicative of thetextual message defined by the user of the client 17 and the participantidentifier associated with each participant icon that is within theselected region of interest. In another exemplary embodiment, thecommand does not include participant identifiers but rather sendslocation information indicating the geographic boundary of the selectedregion of interest (i.e., the region represented by object 236). In suchembodiment, the messaging logic 30 is configured to compare suchinformation to the location identifier in order to determine whichparticipants are within the selected region of interest. As indicatedabove, in the instant example, there is a single participant icon 223within the selected region, but in other examples there can be anynumber of participant icons within the selected region.

In response to the solicitation command, the messaging logic 30 isconfigured to transmit a notification to the user computing device 25 ofeach participant identified by the solicitation command or otherwisedetermined to be within the selected region of interest. Suchnotification preferably includes the data defining the textual message,which is displayed to the participant, as will be described in moredetail below.

In this regard, for each participant identified by the solicitationcommand or otherwise determined to be within the selected region ofinterest, the messaging logic 30 is configured to retrieve contactinformation (e.g., cellular telephone number or email address) for theparticipant. Using such contact information, the messaging logic 30 isconfigured to transmit a message to the user computing device 25 of theparticipant. As an example, the messaging logic 30 may transmit a textmessage, email message, or a push notification via the network 15 orotherwise to the user computing device 25. Note that the contactinformation preferably indicates the type of message that is to betransmitted for the particular user computing device 25 that is toreceive the message. Also note that the message includes overheadindicative of the solicitation event. As an example, the message mayinclude a client identifier identifying the client 17 that initiated thesolicitation event.

In one exemplary embodiment, the message transmitted by the messaginglogic 30 is of a format that causes the operating system 70 to call theweather application 77 in order to handle the message. As an example,for a user computing device 25 that is implemented as an iPhone®cellular telephone, the message may be implemented as an Apple PushNotification (APN). For a user computing device 25 that is implementedas an Android® cellular telephone, the message may be implemented withGoogle Cloud Messaging (GCM). In one exemplary embodiment, when themessage is received by user computing device 25, the operating system 70causes a graphical banner to be displayed via the output interface 93prompting the participant to provide an input indicating whether he orshe wishes to view the message. If the participant provides such aninput, the operating system 70 calls the weather application 77, whichrenders the message via the output interface 93.

In rendering the message, the textual message defined by the user of theclient 17 for the solicitation event may be displayed to the participantwithin a graphical user interface (GUI) of the weather application 100.As indicated above, such textual message may request that the usercapture an image of a scene at the participant's approximate location.FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary GUI 252 in which the exemplary textualmessage described above is displayed within a region 253. As shown byFIG. 7, the GUI 252 includes a graphical object 255 that can be selectedby the participant to indicate a desire to comply with the requestindicated by the textual message or, in other words, to capture at leastone image of a scene to be returned to the client 17.

In response to selection of the object 255, the weather application 77communicates with the operating system 70 for calling the camera driver98, which controls the camera 97 in order to capture at least one image.In this regard, the weather application 77 presents a GUI to the userfor permitting the user to view a feed from the camera 97 and forreceiving inputs for capturing at least one image. When an image iscaptured, a set (e.g., file) of image data 54 defining the capturedimage is stored in memory 72, and the weather application 77 displaysthe captured image in a GUI 263. FIG. 8 shows an exemplary GUI 263 thatis displaying an image captured by the camera 97. Note that the set ofimage data 54 defining the captured image is associated with metadataindicating the location of the user computing device 25 at the time ofcapture and a timestamp indicating the time of capture.

As shown by FIG. 8, the GUI 263 presents the participant with variousoptions such as whether to use the captured image for the solicitationevent and/or whether to take another photograph for the solicitationevent. If the user selects an option to use the captured image, theweather application 77 is configured to transmit to the server 12 amessage that includes the image data 54. In transmitting this message77, the weather application 77 is configured to include metadata, suchas the time and location of image capture, the participant identifier,and the client identifier received from the server 12 for thesolicitation event.

Upon receiving the foregoing message, the messaging logic 30 isconfigured to store the image data 54 in memory 105 and to associate theimage data 54 with the message's metadata. In particular, the messaginglogic 30 associates the image data 54 with the client identifier of theclient 17 that initiated the solicitation event so that the image data54 is accessible to the WX data manager 100 of such client 17. Note thatthere may be several sets of image data 54 from multiple user computingdevices 25 associated with this same client identifier, such as whenthere are multiple participants within the geographic region ofinterest. The image data 54 returned to the server 12 for thesolicitation event may be automatically transmitted to the client 17,which is configured to render such image data 54 to the user of theclient 17, or such user may provide inputs for accessing the image data54 as may be desired.

In one exemplary embodiment, the user of the client 17 provides inputsfor selecting at least one of the sets of image data 54 for renderingthe selected set of image data 54 in a display that is generated by theWX data manager 100 and is to be broadcast from the television weatherstation. In other embodiments, the image data 54 may be selected or usedfor other purposes.

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary map 200 that may be displayed by the client17 after images have been captured in response to at least onesolicitation event. Note that the map 200 shown by FIG. 9 may be thesame map shown by FIGS. 5 and 6 or a different map. For each set ofimage data 54 that is accessed by the WX data manager 100, the WX datamanager 100 is configured to display a respective graphical object 305,referred to hereafter as “image icon.” The image icons 305 have adifferent shape or appearance than that of the participant icons so thatthe type of icon can be readily ascertained by a user upon viewing. Forthe exemplary icons 305 shown by FIG. 9, each location icon 305 depictsan outline of a camera, unlike the participant icons, which depictoutlines of a person. Each image icon 305 represents a location fromwhich at least one of the sets of image data 54 was captured.

In this regard, as described above, each set of image data is associatedwith location information indicating the location of image capture. Fora given set of image data 54 received from the server 12, the WX datamanager 100 is configured to use the location information that isassociated with the image data 54 in order to display a correspondingimage icon 305 at the location on the map 200 corresponding to thegeographic location indicated by such location information. Thus, if auser desires to see an image captured at a certain geographic region ofinterest, the user can select an image icon 305 that is within the areaof the map 200 representing such geographic region. In response to suchselection, the WX data manager 100 may display the image data 54associated with the selected icon 305 or otherwise perform an actionusing such data 54 as may be desired.

In one exemplary embodiment, when the user selects a particular imageicon 305 by hovering a mouse over the icon 305 or otherwise providing aninput for selecting the icon 305, the WX data manager 311 is configuredto display a window 311 (FIG. 9) that includes an image (e.g.,thumbnail) of the set of image data 54 associated with the selected icon305. Thus, a user can readily see the set of image data 54 to determinewhether he or she desires to select such image data 54 for further useby the WX data manager 100 or otherwise, such as selecting the imagedata 54 for rendering in a display generated by the WX data manager 54.

As shown by FIG. 9, the window 311 may include various informationassociated with the set of image data 54 displayed therein, such as thename or other identifier of the participant who captured the image, thelocation of capture, and the time of capture, as determined from themetadata that is transmitted to the server 12 along with the image data54, as described above. In other embodiments, other techniques forenabling a user to select a set of image data 54 of interest arepossible.

Note that the system 10 greatly simplifies the process of solicitingimages of interest from remote participants. In this regard, the system100 automatically tracks the current location of the participants, andthe user of the client 17 is able to send a solicitation message to eachparticipant currently within a region of interest by simply identifyingthe region of interest and defining the text of the message that he orshe would like sent to the participants. Notably, it is unnecessary forthe user to manually correlate the solicitation message with the contactinformation of the participants who are to receive a solicitation. Inresponse to the solicitation message, one or more sets of image data 54from the participants within the region of interest are returned to theclient 17 so that the user can easily find an image of interest to theuser.

In addition, in order to comply with the request received from theserver 12, it is unnecessary for the participant to search through theapplications on his or her computing device 25 for one that permits theparticipant to capture images. In this regard, the weather application77 is automatically called in response to the push notification or othermessage received from the server 12, and the weather application 77 isused to capture the image to be returned to the server 12. Further,after receiving an input indicating that a captured image is acceptablefor the solicitation event, the weather application 77 automaticallysends the image data 54 to the server 12 without requiring theparticipant to manually create a message and then attach the image data54 to the message. In addition, when defining the message, the weatherapplication 77 automatically inserts the server's address into themessage so that it is unnecessary for the participant to find suchaddress. Thus, the burden on the participant to capture and send animage is greatly reduced thereby increasing the likelihood that theparticipant will agree to respond to the solicitation message from theserver 12.

It should also be noted that image data 54 received from theparticipants may be retained in memory 34 to define a history of imagescaptured over extended time periods. In such case, the system 10 may beconfigured to permit the user to search for images that were taken froma region of interest during a particular time period of interest.

In this regard, a user is permitted to provide inputs indicating a timeperiod of interest for the purpose of searching for images. For example,in one exemplary embodiment, the WX data manager 100 may be configuredto display along with a map 200 a graphical object 334 representing acalendar, as shown by FIG. 9. Using such object 334, the user may selecta day and a time of day (such as a particular hour or other time period)of interest. Based on such inputs, the WX data manager 100 is configuredto communicate with the server 12 in order to request images that aretime-stamped with a time within the indicated time period. In responsethe messaging logic 30 searches for and returns the stored image data 54for images matching the request.

For each such image, the WX data manager 100 displays an image icon,which can then be selected by the user, according to the techniquesdescribed above. In such case, only images taken within the indicatedtime period are displayed on the map 200 so that the user can easilyfind an image of interest that satisfies the search criteria input bythe user.

It should be emphasized that the embodiments described herein areexemplary, and various changes and modifications to the describedembodiments would be apparent to a person of ordinary skill upon readingthis disclosure. As an example, it is unnecessary for the server 12 andclient 17 to be implemented at locations that are remote from eachother. Indeed, the functionality of the server 12 and the client 17 maybe implemented by a single computer system. Various other changes andmodifications are possible in other embodiments.

An exemplary operation and use of the system 10 will now be describedbelow with particular reference to FIG. 10.

Assume that a user, while viewing the map 200 shown by FIG. 5, desiresto have an image captured of a weather event represented by the weatherobject 211. As shown by block 333 of FIG. 10, the user selects a regionof interest in which the weather event of interest has occurred, isoccurring, or will likely occur. As an example, based on the map 200 andpossibly other factors, the user may determine a probable region inwhich the weather event will occur in the near future and then provideinputs via input interface 121 for selecting such region, such as byclicking and dragging a mouse over the area of the map 200 representingthe geographic region of interest. FIG. 6 shows the map 200 after theuser has selected the geographic region represented by object 236.

After selecting the geographic region of interest, the user providesinputs indicating a desire to initiate a solicitation event for theidentified region. In response, the WX data manager 100 displays a GUI,such as a text box, for permitting the user to define a textual messageto be sent to participants in the identified image, as shown by block336 of FIG. 10. In the current example, assume that the user defines atextual message requesting participants to take images of weather orweather-related damage occurring at or near the participant's location.After defining the textual message, the user provides another input forinitiating the solicitation event, as shown by block 339 of FIG. 10.

In response, the WX data manager 100 transmits a solicitation command tothe server 12 indicating the geographic region of interest. As anexample, the solicitation command may include location coordinatesindicating the boundary of the geographic region previously selected bythe user.

In response to such command, the messaging logic 30 is configured toanalyze the location data 53 to determine which participants arecurrently within the geographic region of interest. In the currentexample, the participant associated with the participant icon 223 inFIG. 6 should be within such region. For each such participant, themessaging logic 30 transmits a message, such as a push notification, tothe user computing device 25 of such participant. In response, the OS 70of the user computing device 25 is configured to display a bannerprompting the participant to provide an input indicating whether he orshe desires to view the received message. If the participant provides aninput indicating that he or she desires to view the message, then the OS70 calls the weather application 77, which then displays the message tothe user. Alternatively, the OS 70 may automatically call the weatherapplication 77, which displays the message, without requiring theparticipant to provide any inputs.

Specifically, the weather application 77 displays the textual messagedefined by the user of the client 17 requesting that the participantcapture an image of the weather event that is occurring or about tooccur at the participant's location. Such message may include aselectable graphical object that, if selected by the participant, causesthe camera driver to 98 to be invoked. Thus, if the participant selectssuch object, the user computing device 25 automatically transitions toan image capture mode for permitting the participant to capture an imagewithout requiring the user to search among the available applications onhis or her computing device 25 for an image capture application.

Upon selection of the foregoing graphical object, a video feed from thecamera 97 is rendered in a GUI defined by the weather application 77.Such GUI includes a graphical object that, when selected by theparticipant, causes the weather application 77 to capture the imagebeing rendered at the time of such selection. Once this occurs, theweather application 77 is configured to display the captured image andto prompt the user to confirm whether the captured image is acceptable.As an example, FIG. 8 shows an exemplary GUI 263 for which the user canindicate that the captured image (which is displayed within the GUI) isacceptable by selecting the phrase “Use This Photo.” If the participantprovides an input indicating that the captured image is acceptable, thenthe weather application 77 automatically transmits the image data 54defining the captured image to the server 12, as shown by block 342 ofFIG. 10. Notably, the participant is not required to manually open anapplication, such as an email or text message application, forcommunicating messages and then attach the image data 54 to the message.Instead, the weather application 77 is configured to automaticallygenerate a message destined for the server 12 and attach the image data54 to the message when the participant indicates that the captured imageis acceptable, thereby reducing the effort required by the participantto comply with the request received from the server 12. As indicatedabove, the weather application 77 is configured to associate certainmetadata with the image data 54, such as location data indicating thelocation of the device 25 at the time of image capture, as indicated bythe location sensor 99, and a timestamp indicating the time of capture.

Upon receiving the foregoing message, the messaging logic 30 isconfigured to store the image data 54, as shown by block 345 of FIG. 10,and to make the image data 54 accessible to the client 17 that initiatedthe solicitation event. In one exemplary embodiment, the messaging logic30 transmits the image data 54 to the client 17, and the WX data manager100 displays an image icon 305 representative of such image data 54 atthe point on the map 200 corresponding to the location of image capturethat is associated with such image data 54. Thus, upon seeing the imageicon 305, the user of the client 17 is aware that an image has beencaptured at the geographic location corresponding to the location of theicon 305 on the map 200. The user may then select this icon 305 to viewsuch image. If the user likes the image, the user may then select theimage for further use, such as for display within a display generated bythe WX data manager 100.

It should be noted that the system 10 may be used to send messages toparticipants without soliciting images as is described above. As anexample, the same process described above for selecting a region ofinterest and then sending messages to participants within the selectedregion may also be used to send various types of messages other thansolicitation messages. As an example, based on the weather data 55displayed on the map 200, a user of the client 17 may observe that aparticular weather event is about to affect a region, and the user maydefine a message warning of the weather event to send to participantswithin the affected region. In another example, the user may sendgeo-fenced messages unrelated to specific weather events, such asmarketing messages or other types of messages that may be of interest toparticipants. As a mere example, a weather station may be hosting amarketing event or other type of event at a certain location in the nearfuture, and the user of the client 17 may use the system 10 to sendmessages advertising the event to participants within a certain distanceof the event. Alternatively, the user of the client 17 may desire tooffer a new service and desire to send a message advertising the newservice to participants within a certain region. In such examples, amessage may be defined and communicated to the participants within aselected region of interest, and such message may be displayed at theuser computing devices 25 of such the participants via the sametechniques described above for communicating messages to solicit imagesfrom the participants.

In addition, in the embodiments described above, the system 10 isdescribed as soliciting participants to capture images of at least oneevent occurring within a selected geographic region of interest.However, it should be emphasized that similar techniques may be used tosolicit information about such event from the participants. As anexample, rather than requesting that a participant provide an imageduring a solicitation event, a user of the client 17 may define atextual message requesting that the participants within a selectedregion of interest provide information about weather events or othertypes of events that may be occurring in the selected region ofinterest. In response, rather than capturing and returning images, theparticipants may instead provide inputs defining a message to bereturned to the client 17. It is also possible for the user of theclient 17 to solicit both images and information.

The techniques described above for enabling a participant to capture animage and have the image sent without manually specifying or selecting areturn address may be used to do the same for a message defined by theparticipant. In this regard, in response to a solicitation originatingfrom the client 17, the weather application 25 may automatically displaya graphical user interface for receiving inputs defining a textualmessage. Using such graphical user interface, the participant may definea textual message, such as an email message or a text message, and theweather application 77 may automatically define an address for suchmessage identifying the server 12 so that the message can beautomatically sent to the server 12 without the participant having tomanually define or select the address. In other embodiments, othertechniques can be used to communicate a message back to the server 12,which sends the message to the client 17.

Now, therefore, the following is claimed:
 1. A system, comprising:memory for storing location data indicative of locations of a pluralityof user computing devices; a data manager configured to display a map;an input interface for receiving user inputs for selecting a region ofthe map corresponding to a geographic region affected by or to beaffected by a weather event and for defining a textual message to becommunicated to users within the geographic region; and messaging logicconfigured to track locations of the user computing devices and toupdate the location data as the locations of the user computing deviceschange, the messaging logic configured to determine which of the usercomputing devices are at locations corresponding to the selected regionof the map, the messaging logic further configured to transmit thetextual message to at least one of the user computing devices determinedto be at a location corresponding to the selected region of the map inresponse to the user inputs, wherein the textual message is forrequesting at least one user to capture at least one image associatedwith the weather event within the geographic region.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the data manager is configured to display on the map atleast one object indicative of the weather event.
 3. The system of claim1, wherein the plurality of user computing devices include at least afirst user computing device and a second user computing device, whereinthe messaging logic is configured to receive image data from the firstuser computing device, wherein the image data is associated withlocation information indicative of a location of the first usercomputing device at a time of capture of the image data, and wherein thedata manager is configured to display on the map an icon representingthe image data based on the location information.
 4. The system of claim1, wherein the at least one computing devices has memory for storing anapplication that is configured to prompt a user of the at least one usercomputing device to capture an image associated with the weather eventin response to the textual message.
 5. The system of claim 1, whereinthe data manager is configured to display icons on a map, each of theicons representing at least one image captured by a user in response tothe textual message.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the data manageris configured to render weather data on the map on which the icons aredisplayed.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of usercomputing devices include at least a first user computing device and asecond user computing device, wherein the first user computing devicesis configured to store a weather application for providing weatheralerts and weather data to a user of the first user computing device,wherein the textual message is of a format for causing the first usercomputing device to call the weather application, and wherein theweather application is configured to display a graphical user interfaceon the first user computing device for permitting the user of the firstuser computing device to view a feed from a camera of the first usercomputing device, and wherein the weather application is configured totransmit at least one image captured by the camera to the messaginglogic.
 8. A method, comprising: storing, in memory, location dataindicative of locations of a plurality of user computing devices;displaying a map via an output interface; receiving at least one userinput for selecting a region of the displayed map corresponding to ageographic region affected by or to be affected by a weather event;receiving at least one user input for defining a textual message;tracking locations of the user computing devices; updating the locationdata based on the tracking; determining which of the user computingdevices are at locations corresponding to the selected region of the mapbased on the location data; and transmitting the textual message to atleast one of the user computing devices determined to be at a locationcorresponding to the selected region of the map, wherein the textualmessage is for requesting at least one user to capture at least oneimage associated with the weather event within the geographic region. 9.The method of claim 8, further comprising displaying on the map at leastone object indicative of the weather event.
 10. The method of claim 8,wherein the plurality of user computing devices include at least a firstuser computing device and a second user computing device, and whereinthe method further comprises: receiving image data from the first usercomputing device, wherein the image data is associated with locationinformation indicative of a location of the first user computing deviceat a time of capture of the image data; and displaying on the map anicon representing the image data based on the location information. 11.The method of claim 8, further comprising prompting a user of the atleast one user computing device to capture an image in response to thetextual message.
 12. A method, comprising: storing, in memory, locationdata indicative of locations of a plurality of user computing devices;identifying a geographic region affected by or to be affected by aweather event; receiving at least one user input for initiating asolicitation event to solicit users to provide images associated withthe weather event; tracking locations of the user computing devices;updating the location data based on the tracking; determining which ofthe user computing devices are within the geographic region based on thelocation data; and transmitting a solicitation message to at least oneof the user computing devices determined to be within the geographicregion in response to the at least one user input, the solicitationmessage for soliciting a user of the at least one user computing deviceto capture at least one image associated with the weather event.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the at least one user input indicates thegeographic region.
 14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:storing the image in memory; and associating the image with the weatherevent in the memory.
 15. The method of claim 12, further comprisingdisplaying a weather map, the weather map indicative of the weatherevent, wherein the at least one user input selects the geographic regionfrom the weather map.
 16. The method of claim 12, further comprisingdisplaying icons on a map, each of the icons representing at least oneimage captured by a user in response to the solicitation message. 17.The method of claim 16, further comprising rendering weather data on themap.
 18. The method of claim 12, further comprising: storing a weatherapplication on the at least one user computing device, wherein thesolicitation message is of a format for causing the at least one usercomputing device to call the weather application in response to thesolicitation message; providing weather alerts and weather data to auser with the weather application; displaying with the weatherapplication a graphical user interface on the at least one computingdevice; presenting a feed from a camera of the at least one computingdevice via the graphical user interface; and transmitting an imagecaptured by the camera from the at least one user computing device viathe weather application.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:displaying an icon representing the image on a map; and displayingweather information related to the weather event on the map.